Solar Panels Incorrectly Installed, Installers Refuse to Backup Their Warranty.

[Guest]

My girlfriend's parents had solar panels installed in 2013, the installers agreed to a 10-year product warranty and 25-year performance warranty.

The first line of the solar panel contract states "We will carry out the work with all reasonable skill and care according to the timetable agreed with you.", I see this as them not upholding the contract as the faulty installation has led to the panel moving out of place and hanging from the roof.

Due to the potential for damage, I quickly sought a repairman to ensure the roof of the property wouldn't be damaged by the loose panel. I reached out to the original installers hoping that the repair would be under warranty but was met with hostility from a representative who stated the warranty term was only 2 years despite documentation saying otherwise, they then hung up. I called back and they told me to get in touch with a third party who covered the contract in case of liquidation of the installer. I asked how I'd be able to use this if the company isn't insolvent and this is where things got confusing. The company claimed they were insolvent and no longer worked in solar, and eventually, I was hung up on again.

I got in touch with a repairman who carried out the necessary work and will provide me with a report stating the issues with the installation. He has helped me through this process thus far but now I am at a standstill to what to do, I would prefer not to engage in litigation but am willing to do so if it is necessary.

Does anyone have any advice on what we need to do going forward and any relevant legislation that may help?

Thanks for your time,
James.


EDIT: Upon reviewing documentation, they are certified by the following agencies:
FGAS Certification
Green Deal Approved
REA Limited
NIC EIC
NHBC
MCS


EDIT: Just to add more info about how the installation was botched, our report from the repairman states:

- The quoted works were for 13 solar panels, the actual installation was 12 solar panels of a different brand and model than quoted for.
- No gap was left to allow for shading, reducing the effectiveness of panels.
- If the installation was done with the correct panels and appropriate installation method output would have been approx 3200kW per year.
- If the installation was done with the actual panels and appropriate installation method output would have been approx 2867kW per year.
- Actual output is 1668kW per year.
- No ballast installed to prevent wind rise under solar panels.
- Roof mountings do not meet MCS guidelines and seem to be mix-and-matched.
- Wind rise due to lack of ballast has caused mounting screws to rip out.
- Clamps filled with shims due to parts not correctly corresponding.
- Cable incorrectly shielded causing the potential to expose 200-volt current.
- In conclusion: The current system could pose a threat to the homeowner or general public if certain reasonable conditions occurred.

[Kati]

tagging des8 ??

[Onestepatatime]

Solar installations should be covered by MCS registration, was the original installer should have been affiliated to a registration body such as Niceic, Napit etc?
This would be your first port of call.

[Onestepatatime]

Have a read here http://www.microgenerationcertification.org/

[Guest]

Have a read here http://www.microgenerationcertification.org/

Thanks for that - I've seen this branding somewhere on one of my documents, I'll try find it now.

[des8]

Were the installers a limited company?
Have you checked if they are insolvent?
If they are they should not be trading anyway
Do you have a written warranty for ten years/
Did this cover the installation as well as the product?
Was the warranty backed by insurance, or just the installers?

Sorry, but there might be more questions depending on your responses

[Guest]

Were the installers a limited company?

Yes they are a Ltd company.

Have you checked if they are insolvent?
If they are they should not be trading anyway

Their website is still up and running, they answered the phone number associated with the business and acted as though it was solvent until it would benefit them to act as though they weren't, they are overdue on some documents are per companies house but up-to-date on others so I believe they are not insolvent.

Do you have a written warranty for ten years?

I can't find any specific documentation for a warranty and I think that means there isn't one, however we do have documentation about the particular product we purchased being accompanied by a '10-year product warranty' and '25-year performance warranty'.

Did this cover the installation as well as the product?

The warranty doesn't mention installation although I'd argue that it should go without saying, regardless the contract states they are contractually obligated to correctly install the solar panels (words to that effect, I provided them verbatim in the original post).

Was the warranty backed by insurance, or just the installers?

The warranty is backed by a third party company who will pay out the necessary costs if the installers become insolvent,

Sorry, but there might be more questions depending on your responses

You shouldn't apologise, I appreciate the effort you're going to to help me out here, thank you for your time!

[Onestepatatime]

If you can find the installer on the mcs installers section then you may be able to find their registration scheme, the scheme/mcs orgs should be able to offer a resolution by either ensuring the installer rectified the fault or provide another registered installer to rectify under the warranty.

[des8]

So the installers are still in existence and not insolvent, but just don't operate in the solar panel field.
The product guarantee (provided by the manufacturer?) probably does not cover the installation.

assuming the repairman is a qualified/experienced tradesman and is prepared to give you a written report that the original work was substandard and has now corrected the installation you should write to the company explaining the problem and point out that as they were in breach of the contract to "carry out the work with all reasonable skill and care " you anticipate they will reimburse you the cost of correcting their installation work.

At the same time follow up onestepatatime's suggestions.

Eventually, when and if they decline your invitation to pay, you send them a "letter before claim".

[Guest]

If you can find the installer on the mcs installers section then you may be able to find their registration scheme, the scheme/mcs orgs should be able to offer a resolution by either ensuring the installer rectified the fault or provide another registered installer to rectify under the warranty.

Interestingly they are not on the mcs installer database so that's another concern to add, I will have to check with the rest of the organisations to see if they're actually certified by any of them, I suppose if they're not this will help with the potential litigation at least.

So the installers are still in existence and not insolvent, but just don't operate in the solar panel field.
The product guarantee (provided by the manufacturer?) probably does not cover the installation.

We're honestly uncertain whether they are solvent or not as it seemed to be just an excuse to get us off the phone, the repairman also states he has a lot of angry customers coming from them so it wouldn't surprise is to sink to that level.

assuming the repairman is a qualified/experienced tradesman and is prepared to give you a written report that the original work was substandard and has now corrected the installation you should write to the company explaining the problem and point out that as they were in breach of the contract to "carry out the work with all reasonable skill and care " you anticipate they will reimburse you the cost of correcting their installation work.

At the same time follow up onestepatatime's suggestions.

Eventually, when and if they decline your invitation to pay, you send them a "letter before claim".

Thanks this is helpful to know and definitely the steps we'll be taking.

[Onestepatatime]

I’d suggest contacting MCS directly and ask them if their directory is up to date. They will probably assist if you give them a name and number.

[Guest]

Hi everyone, small update and another request for some advice here:

Over the last month, I've contacted MCS a couple of times and their stance is pretty much that they can not do anything about it other than suggesting another certified installer who could help us with any issues we have (at our cost).

However, during this time two new pieces of information have come to light:

1) The report drafted by the extremely helpful repairman provided extensive evidence that the installation was COMPLETELY botched, and that non-standard parts were used creating a dangerous environment and impacting the efficiency of the product (output is 1/2 of what was quoted - 1.5kw vs 3.2kw)

2) The companies house data has been updated, here's the timeline (reverse chronological order):

13 Feb 2018	Registered office address changed from X to Y
17 Jan 2018	Current accounting period shortened from 31 July 2018 to 31 March 2018
06 Jan 2018	Compulsory strike-off action has been discontinued
03 Jan 2018	Confirmation statement made on 26 August 2017 with no updates
05 Jul 2017	Compulsory strike-off action has been suspended
04 Jul 2017	First Gazette notice for compulsory strike-off

On top of this, the government website:

http://wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk//w...essCompanyInfo

classifies them as not dissolved, therefore I would argue that they are now trading again.


Potential Issues:

We don't have a copy of the installer's workmanship warranty - which is strange as all documents provided were kept in one place, so it is possible that they (purposefully?) neglected to provide us with one, however, I have no proof either way of this.

Ideally, we would need a copy of this document and the only place I can imagine this exists is with the installer, I am hesitant to request it from them as then they will know our hand and potentially refuse to provide it to us and debunk our chances, any thoughts on this?


Going forward:

Our plan from here on out is to either try to get the company to enforce their warranty or failing that to use that process as a chance to gather evidence that we can take to the CAB and if necessary, court.

Would this be an advisable approach, and if so is there any precautions I need to take in the emails in order to show that we are a) being serious and b) willing to use this as legal evidence if needs are.



Thank you so much, everyone, for your continued support,
James.

[Amethyst]

The accounting period being changed as well as the change of address could be indicators they are looking at liquidating. Is the new address an accountants office or similar ?

companies house beta is better than the old webcheck site https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/ particularly for access of documents.

[Guest]

The accounting period being changed as well as the change of address could be indicators they are looking at liquidating. Is the new address an accountants office or similar ?

companies house beta is better than the old webcheck site https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/ particularly for access of documents.

Great intuition, you're correct, it is an accountants office. This may be a positive either way though, as we have insurance for insolvency, whereas before they weren't insolvent so the insurance wouldn't cover us, it appears they may be officially soon.

Kudos to you for this site by the way, it has saved my hide on more than one occasion.

Thanks!

[Amethyst]

Thank you


Feel free to pm me the company if you like and I'll see if I can find anything out ( I'm terribly nosey )

You know you said there wasn't a document with the 10 warranty on for the workmanship - is such a warranty referred to in any other of the documents or was it solely something that was told verbally to your parents when they were being sold the solar panel install?

You could get your parents to do a subject access request to the company - they don't have to say why they want the info - and it might turn something up.

And ... trading standards ... worth lodging a complaint about the botched install backed up with your repair guys report .... they might have had other complaints so could assist any investigation.